Summer Rains & Hurricanes

17 … And then the rains came and hope springs eternal…

Man watching flood waters. Alamos, Sonora, Mexico.  Photo by Anders Tomlinson.

On this day Arroyo La Aduana does not encourage crossing.

Blusters from a hurricane passing over Alamos from the Sea of Cortez flooded the arroyos overnight. The town awoke to three avalanches of rushing water. Folks came to the water’s edge and marveled at the sound and fury of nature. And then some understood there are paradoxes embedded into natural orders of things; water, water everywhere – but not a drop to capture and command. Thankfully, gravity will ensure the surrounding aquifer receives a recharge.

Three flooded arroyos.  Alamos, Sonora, Mexico.  Photo by Anders Tomlinson.

Alamos, for this moment, has become the three rivers city of Sonora.

The view from Mirador looking to the northwest was another side of Alamos rarely seen, the town’s eastern center surrounded on two sides by water. I believe this was the doings of Pacific Tropical Cyclone Fausto headed northeast for Texas. Nature, you have to live with it because you can’t live without it. Why isn’t this Planet Water instead of Planet Earth?

bike rider crossing flooded arroyo, Alamos, Sonora, Mexico.  Photo by Anders Tomlinson.

The storm passed, the sun came out and the waters began to recede.

When the arroyos recede they become passable on on foot, bike and vehicle. Children take to the water, it is now fun, a challenge they can conquer. This boy is crossing Arroyo La Aduanaa and headed towards the Missionaries of Fatima’s monastery.

An occasional summer storm floods three arroyos in Alamos with mountain runoff.
Summer is the rainy season and tropical storms, remnant of hurricanes, can come in from the Sea of Cortez to the west. This is the morning after a storm hit the region hard the previous evening.

Storms come and go. The summer rains are here, the sweet night air cools warm bodies bringing relief and contemplation. The purity and hope of laughing young couples, alone with each other, drenched to the bone, clinging wet clothes, make their way home late at night splashing and dancing in cobblestone puddles. Above, the heavens explode, a cannonade of thunder rumbles across silhouetted mountain ridges backlit by fantastic lightening. It is time to go to asleep under one sheet in the cool of a warm night.

The summer rains are here, the sweet night air cools warm bodies bringing relief and contemplation. The purity and hope of laughing young couples, alone with each other, drenched to the bone, clinging wet clothes, make their way home late at night splashing and dancing in cobblestone puddles. Above, the heavens explode, a cannonade of thunder rumbles across silhouetted mountain ridges backlit by fantastic lightening. It is time to go to asleep under one sheet in the cool of a warm night. And then the big storm, remnants of a tropical typhoon, arrived. In an instant the sky turned angry dark, the air became colder and a deafening wind shrieked through the trees. It rained and continuously howled from late afternoon until just before dawn. In the morning, stunned town folk came out and watched from a safe distance the fast running rivers that are normally dry arroyos. Over the coming days waters receded, children played in cool shallow pools and rock men filled their trucks with fresh sand. Photos and editing by Anders Tomlinson.
Music from “Camino Songs” by SonicAtomics.

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